Snapchat’s fastest growing demographic is young adults but it still built it’s success on the short lived selfies of High School kids. Your High School kids. Today Snapchat released a major updates that adds some very new, never before seen features. While I don’t expect these new additions to make Snapchat more of a problem. I do think its smart for parents to understand what the apps their kids use are capable of. Here’s what’s new:
No Time Limit
You can now post you images without a time limit counting down until transitioning to the next photo. Videos also have a “play forever” option that will loop your videos. The “disappearing” images is what made Snapchat such a novelty at the beginning. This is a major step away from that.
Emoji Brushes
This is pretty much just a way to draw with emojis. Dumb? Maybe. Annoying? Definitely. Will it be used like crazy? Absolutely. You’ll be seeing emojis plastered all over snapchat images now. Enjoy!
Magic Eraser
This is just what it sounds like. It’s probably the coolest new feature in this update. It allows you to cut out sections of your photo and replaces the background automatically. This makes whatever you erased disappear like it was never in the photo in the first place. Features like this have been available in photo editing software but it’s the first time we’ve seen it in a social media camera.
What Parents Should Know
As I already mentioned these features don’t necessarily make Snapchat a more dangerous app. (It’s already on our uninstall list, mostly because of the potentially adult themed articles in the Discover section.) If you’ve been telling your teen they can’t install Snapchat this update might make it a bit more difficult. You are sure to hear “but mom, so and so has it” or “all of my friends..” just remember that while these updates are cool, there are other reasons you may not think this app is smart for your teen to have. This update doesn’t change any of that.